Birch Monroe

Birch Monroe (May 16, 1901 – May 15, 1982)[1][2] was an American old time and early bluegrass fiddler, bassist, dancer, founding member of the Monroe brothers, and older brother to Charlie and Bill Monroe. He grew up on a farm with five brothers and sisters before leaving it in the late twenties. Unlike brothers Charlie and Bill he chose to not pursue a career in music.

Birch Monroe
Monroe at Bill Monroe's Second Annual Kentucky Bluegrass Festival, Jackson, Kentucky, August 1972
Background information
Birth nameBirch Monroe
BornMay 16, 1901 (1901-05-16)
Rosine, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedMay 15, 1982 (1982-05-16) (aged 80)
GenresOld time, bluegrass
Occupation(s)Musician, dancer
InstrumentsFiddle, bass, vocals
Years active1929-1982
LabelsCounty records, Atteiram
Associated actsBill Monroe, Charlie Monroe, The Bluegrass Boys

Early days

Monroe was born near Rosine, in Western Kentucky. Like his five brothers and sisters he helped out on the six-hundred-and-fifty-five-acre property farm where their father made a living mining coal, cutting timber and farming.

Growing up with a mother that sang old-time songs and ballads, played harmonica, button accordion and fiddle and a father that was a dancer, folk traditions of home entertainment was part of the family life. Fiddle player, uncle Pen Vandiver, who Monroe has told that was a fine person «and never did get in a hurry over anything» also lived nearby. He frequently played at dances in the community. The siblings was involved with music and most of them played instruments and learned shape note singing through visiting teachers in the Baptist and Methodist churches of Rosine.[3] Birch's main instrument was the fiddle.

Leaving the farm

Monroe and his brother Charlie left the family farm in Rosine in the 1920s to work in the booming northern factories of the time. When Bill joined them in 1929 they were working in East Chicago, Indiana at the Sinclair Oil refinery. There, the brothers played local venues and dances. Monroe, with his brothers played on WWAE in Hammond, Indiana[4] and also performed weekly on WJKS in Gary. In 1932, the three, along with a friend, Larry Moore, were hired as exhibition square dancers for the national barn dance radio program, broadcast from Chicago. In 1934, Monroe chose the stability of working at the refinery to support his sisters while Charlie and Bill went on to perform on KFNF in Shenandoah, Iowa.

Later performances

After the war, Monroe had a few performances with Bill. One of them include "Just a Little Talk with Jesus" at a 1948 performance in the Grand Ole Opry.[5] Monroe played bass on tour with Bill after Howard Watts left the band. In late April 1963 he joined Bill Monroe for a performance with The Bluegrass Boys in Bean Blossom.[6] Monroe was also manager, in the early 1960s, of Bill Monroe's country music park, the Brown County Jamboree, in Bean Blossom, Indiana. On July 3, 1969, at the Smithsonian Festival of American Culture, Monroe performed with Bill and Charlie.[3][7] Birch can also be found on radio transcriptions that Charlie Monroe made in 1944 for the Noon-Day Jamboree released on County Records in 1974.[8] In 1976 he performed at the Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival.[9]

Death

Monroe died on May 15, 1982 the day before he would turn 81. The funeral was held at the Rosine Methodist Church in Rosine on Tuesday, May 18.[1]

Discography

Original Releases
Year of release Title Label Number
1975 Brother Birch Monroe Plays Old Time Fiddle Favorites Atteiram API-L-1516

Singles
Year of release Title Label Number
1948 Summertime Is Past And Gone/Wicked Path Of Sin Columbia 20503

*Sang bass on Wicked Path Of Sin

Compilations
Year of release Title Label Number
1965 Original Bluegrass Sound Harmony HL 7338
1970 Sixteen All-Time Greatest Hits Columbia CS 1065
1978 Bill Monroe with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs "The Original Bluegrass Band" Rounder SS 06
1981 Bluegrass Classics Radio Shows 1946-1948 Bluegrass Classics BGC 80
1984 Bill Monroe: Columbia Historic Edition Columbia FC 38904
1992 The Essential Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys, 1945-1949 Columbia C2K 52478
1994 The Music of Bill Monroe from 1936 to 1994 Decca MCAD 4-11048
1998 Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys: The Early Years Vanguard V 79518-2
2001 Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys: Mansion for Me Music Mill Entertainment MME-71007
2002 Bill Monroe: Blue Moon of Kentucky 1936-1949 Bear Family BCD 16399 FL

Live albums
Year of release Title Label Number
1969 Festival of American Folklife, Vol. 1 Smithsonian Institution FAF Vol. 1
1993 Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys: Live Recordings 1956-1969, Off the Record Vol. 1 Smithsonian Folkways SF CD 40063

With Charlie Monroe
Year of release Title Label Number
1974 Charlie Monroe on the Noon-Day Jamboree - 1944 County Records 538
1974 The Songs Of Charlie Monroe And The Kentucky Pardners - 1944 County Records 539
1975 Charlie Monroe Live At Lake Norman Music Hall Pine Tree Records PTSLP-528

Source:[10][11]

References
  1. Birch Monroe, Bluegrass Unlimited, Warrenton, Virginia June 1982 p. 4
  2. Tom Ewing (2000). The Bill Monroe Reader. University of Illinois Press. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-252-02500-6.
  3. Bill, Birch & Charlie Monroe Sing Gospel, retrieved 2019-11-12
  4. "Northwest Indiana's Connection to Country Music". Whiting-Robertsdale Historical Society. September 18, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  5. Sean Coxen (24 May 2012). "Bill Monroe - Just a Little Talk with Jesus (Bluegrass Quartet w/ Birch Monroe)". YouTube. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  6. Bill Monroe 1963-04-?? Bean Blossom, IN, retrieved 2019-11-12
  7. "Bill Monroe - part I". Countrydiscography.blogspot.no. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  8. Charlie Monroe On The Noonday Jamboree 1944 [1974] - Charlie Monroe, retrieved 2019-11-12
  9. Birch Monroe 1976 Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival, retrieved 2019-11-12
  10. Rosenberg, Neil V. (2007). The Music of Bill Monroe. University of Illinois Press. pp. 69, 74–75, 186, 213–214, 296, 297, 299, 306, 308, 310–311. ISBN 978-0-252-03121-2.
  11. Plays Old Time Fiddle Favorites [1975] - Brother Birch Monroe, retrieved 2019-11-12

Bibliography
  • Rosenberg, Neil V. Bluegrass: a History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0252072451
  • Smith, Richard D. Can't You Hear Me Callin': the Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0306810541
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